Sounds simple. In and out, right?

Not when there's a billion dollar lottery going on, oh no. Every poor person in the county wearing ratty clothes and smelling like they haven't bathed in a week is now lined up at the register spending their (our) free money on lottery tickets...usually dozens of lottery tickets...that they fill out when they get to the register, because somehow picking your own numbers improves your odds of winning from roughly 1:300,000,000 to roughly 1:300,000,000. And, of course, while waiting for all of them to print out, they have to get half a dozen scratch-offs to scratch off and redeem then rinse and repeat until they lose.

Meanwhile, what should be about a ten second interaction with the checkout dude for my washer fluid and (now cold) coffeee has turned into a 15 minute rage inducing reminder of why I hate people.

ETA: It cracks me up that the higher the jackpot gets, the more they come out. Because $2,000,000 isn't enough to get your lazy ass off the couch, but a billion? Oh yeah!

Why did we ever legalize this crap?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Gustofer,

quote:

Every poor person in the county wearing ratty clothes and smelling like they haven't bathed in a week is now lined up

Sorry, if I'd known you were behind me I'd have said "Hi"!

quote:

And, of course, while waiting for all of them to print out, they have to get half a dozen scratch-offs to scratch off and redeem then rinse and repeat until they lose.

The store should prohibit that. Of course, it might cause a riot ...

All the big convenience store chains we have here like Wawa, Royal Farms and Sheetz have wisely moved to add multiple self checkout stations in addition to manned checkouts. It's great, no more getting stuck behind 10 people in a line while the doofus at the counter is buying cigarettes or something and taking forever when you just have a coffee and are trying to get in and out quick.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

Why did we ever legalize this crap?

Like reparations, you get free money, throw it away and it ends up back where it started. But those bucks give hope to the hopeless, who are hopeless for a reason. The circle of life or something like that.

I'll toss a couple bucks at it when it's this high. I rarely carry cash, so it's a pretty low priority on my to-do list.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
ETA: It cracks me up that the higher the jackpot gets, the more they come out. Because $2,000,000 isn't enough to get your lazy ass off the couch, but a billion? Oh yeah!

Thinking about this earlier today while back in line for more tickets, realized that the OP has missed the fact that the stinky masses are actually more advanced math whizzes and professional gamblers than him and his dirty windshield.

When the jackpot is a few measly million, it is indeed a waste of money. However once you get over a certain level, and $1.2BB is certainly well over that, each ticket you buy is +EV.

If he truly wanted to help us out, he'd match our purchases in an effort to dramatically increase our number of tickets and help get us off the streets and making charitable contributions while starting up businesses to employ the stinky masses.

If one ticket has a chance, two have twice the chance!

I will admit I put down $4 on a powerball ticket for tonight's drawing. I will get $4 worth of daydreaming about winning before I lose. I find it interesting that I daydream about ways to be lazy. I wouldn't be a jet setter or a socialite. I'd probably just sit on the porch with a dog and wait for the mail.

I hear you. I wont shop anywhere that has a non dedicate lottery line..No convienace stores

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Originally posted by Ronin101:

I wont shop anywhere that has a non dedicate lottery line.

Stopped at Publix grocery store this morning to grab a couple things. Noticed that there were three or four register positions at the Customer Service counter, one of which was for lottery only. The other registers were moving along briskly.

It is nothing more than a tax on the poor...and they don't even see it, while inconsiderately inconveniencing the rest of us.

Why did we ever legalize this crap?

For the children!

In 1986, Florida legalized lottery gambling with the state getting its cut, to benefit public education.

Now everything is perfect.

quote:

Originally posted by RichardC:

In 1986, Florida legalized lottery gambling with the state getting its cut, to benefit public education.

Yeah, it's really great, the way that my property taxes have gone down, because the lottery pays for so much of the school expenses.

I stopped at Publix on the way home to pick up milk and bread and was surprised that the Lotto line was empty, so I took that as a meaning that I was supposed to go and pick up some tickets.

By the time I left the store, there was already a line of people waiting to buy tickets.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
Why did we ever legalize this crap?

From your lips to God’s ears. I ain’t about that gambling.

One of the reasons I like my corner gas station.
Mean, old Pakistani cuss owns it, one of his family members works there too, probably + .5 nicer than the old man.

One line for lottery, the other for paying customers. “Paying customer alway firs!” [said in best Paki accent]

I kinda like the old dude!

quote:

Originally posted by RichardC:
In 1986, Florida legalized lottery gambling with the state getting its cut, to benefit public education.

Yeah, that was the reasoning used here as well. Yet, I no longer have kids in school, my property taxes have tripled in the past ten years, and driving up and down my road is a daily adventure in avoiding having to get an alignment.

I didn't win the powerball, but apparently nobody did either. So expect more lines ahead of the next drawing. I got my $4 worth of daydreaming. The wife and I talked about a summer home on a lake maybe in Michigan. I'd have to consult their 2A oppression before I agreed to it. I hear you have to register your guns up there.
Anyway, I'm probably in for another $4 for the next drawing.

quote:

In 1986, Florida legalized lottery gambling with the state getting its cut, to benefit public education.

And where has that gone?

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Originally posted by egregore:

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In 1986, Florida legalized lottery gambling with the state getting its cut, to benefit public education.

And where has that gone?

It’s paying for one of my kid’s university tuition right now. It should be paying for the other two as well if they stay in-state.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: trapper189,